Sophocles Antigone 237

mvp-comment-132-1 ἀνθ’ οὗ ¹

mvp-comment-132-2 τὸ γὰρ | πρᾶγμ’ ² γάρ ³

mvp-comment-133-1 εὖ γε στοχάζει ⁴ στοχάζει ⁵ ἀποφράγνυσαι ⁶ στοχάζομαι ⁷

mvp-comment-133-2 κἀποφράγνυσαι ⁸

mvp-comment-133-3 τὸ πρᾶγμα ⁹

mvp-comment-134-1 δηλοῖς δ’ ὥς τι ς. ¹⁰

mvp-comment-135-1 τὰ δεινά ¹¹ γάρ ¹²

mvp-comment-135-2 ποτ ¹³

mvp-comment-135-3 ἀπαλλαχθείς ¹⁴

mvp-comment-136-1 καὶ δή ¹⁵

mvp-comment-136-2 θάψας ¹⁶ κἀπί ¹⁷

mvp-comment-136-3 διψίαν ¹⁸

mvp-comment-136-4 κἀφαγιστεύσας ¹⁹ ἃ χρή ²⁰

mvp-comment-137-1 ἀνδρῶν ²¹

mvp-comment-137-2 οὔτε του γενῇδος … οὐ δικέλλης ²² οὔτε … οὐ ²³ γενῄς ²⁴ γενῄς ²⁵ δίκελλα ²⁶

mvp-comment-137-3 δικ. ἐκβολή ²⁷ ἐκβ. ²⁸ στύφλος ²⁹ χέρσος ³⁰ ἀρρώξ ³¹

mvp-comment-137-4 ἐπημαξευμένη ³² ἐπ‐ ³³ ἐφ‐ ³⁴

mvp-comment-137-5 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐργάτης ἄσημός τις ἦν ³⁵

mvp-comment-138-1 It is still the early morning of the day on which the drama opens. The Argives having fled in the night, Creon had published his edict shortly before dawn. Antigone had done her deed in the short interval between the publication of the edict and the beginning of the watch over the corpse. ὁ πρῶτος ἡμεροσκόπος ³⁶ ἡμεροσκ. ³⁷

mvp-comment-138-2 δείκνυσι … παρῆν ³⁸

mvp-comment-138-3 δυσχερές ³⁹

mvp-comment-139-1 ὁ μὲν ⁴⁰

mvp-comment-139-2 τυμβήρης μὲν οὔ ⁴¹ τυμβ. ⁴² λεπτὴ δ’ … ἐπῆν ⁴³

mvp-comment-139-3 ἄγος φεύγοντος ὥς ⁴⁴ ἄγος ⁴⁵

mvp-comment-140-1 θηρός ⁴⁶

mvp-comment-140-2 του ⁴⁷ θηρός ⁴⁸

mvp-comment-140-3 οὐ σπάσαντος ⁴⁹ οὐ ⁵⁰ σπάσαντος ⁵¹ σπάσαντος οὐδ’ ἐλθόντος ⁵²

mvp-comment-141-1 λόγοι δ’ … φύλακα ⁵³ λόγοι κακοὶ ἐρρόθουν ⁵⁴ ἐρρόθουν ⁵⁵

mvp-comment-141-2

, of an unintelligible jargon.

mvp-comment-141-3 ἐλέγχων ⁵⁶

mvp-comment-141-4 κἂν ἐγίγνετο ⁵⁷

mvp-comment-141-5 τελευτῶς ⁵⁸

mvp-comment-141-6 ὁ κωλύσων ⁵⁹

mvp-comment-142-1 ἦν … οὑξειργ. ⁶⁰

mvp-comment-142-2 ἐναργής ⁶¹

mvp-comment-142-3 ἀλλ’ ⁶²

mvp-comment-142-4 ἕφευγε μὴ εἰδέναι ⁶³

mvp-comment-142-5 μὴ ⁶⁴ εἰδέναι ⁶⁵

mvp-comment-143-1 μύδρους ⁶⁶

mvp-comment-143-2 a red-hot mass of metal, and that the custom was symbolical of an older use of the

in ordeals by fire. This would explain how the Alexandrian poets of the 3rd cent. B.C. (Lycophron, Callimachus) came to use the word , in defiance of its etymology, as simply ‘a lump’ (or even ‘a stone’). They supposed that the had been cold masses.

mvp-comment-144-1 πῦρ διέρπειν ⁶⁷

mvp-comment-144-2 θεοὺς ὁρκ. ⁶⁹

mvp-comment-144-3 τὸ μήτε δρ ⁷⁰

mvp-comment-144-4 μήτ’ είργασμένῳ ⁷¹ μηδ ⁷²

mvp-comment-145-1 πλέον ⁷³

mvp-comment-145-2 λέγει ⁷⁴

mvp-comment-145-3 τις εἷς ⁷⁵

mvp-comment-146-1 προὔτρεψεν ⁷⁶

mvp-comment-146-2 οὐ γὰρ εἴχομεν ⁷⁷

mvp-comment-146-3 As ἀντιφωνεῖν ⁷⁸ δρῶντες ⁷⁹ ὅπως δρῶντες ⁸⁰ εἴχομεν ⁸¹

mvp-comment-147-1 σοί ⁸²

mvp-comment-147-2 ταῦτ’ ἐνίκα ⁸³

mvp-comment-147-3 πάλος ⁸⁴ καθαιρεῖ ⁸⁵

mvp-comment-147-4 τἀγαθόν ⁸⁶ —ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν ⁸⁷

223-330. mvp-comment-136-1 The half-comic or rustic character of the watchman in this play is an extension of the common character of the messenger, whose natural rudeness of speech and thought brings into greater prominence the horror or pathos of the events he describes. The grotesqueness disappears when he speaks of the action of Antigone in 407-440. The employment of this artifice by Sophocles arises from the same motive to which Shakespeare gave a far wider range in such creations as the gravediggers in Hamlet, and the rural fellow in Antony and Cleopatra. The Messenger in the Trachiniae, the Corinthian in the Oedipus Tyrannus, Menelaus in the Ajax, the pretended Shipmaster in the Philoctetes, afford the same sort of contrast to the more tragic personages: and the superstition of the Coloniatae may be compared with the cowardice of the Phrygian slave in the Orestes of Euripides.

223-330. mvp-comment-136-2 The vulgarity of the common-place Athenian of the fifth century в.с. takes the form of misplaced subtlety of wit. Cp. Shak. Hamlet, 5. 1 ,

238. mvp-comment-146-1 τὸ γάρ For the light ending, cp infr. 327, 409, Ο. Τ. 553-554. τὸ δὲ | πάθημ᾽ ὁποῖον φῇς παθεῖν δίδασκέ με, ib. 995-996, 1056-1057.

239. mvp-comment-147-1 ὅστις ἦν ὁ δρῶν i. e. τὸν δρῶντα, ὅστις ἦν, The unknown doer of the deed.

241-242. mvp-comment-148-1 (1) You aim carefully, and fence the business off from yourself all round. Some editors read τί φροιμιάζει; from Ar. Rhet. 3. 14, § 10, quoted above. But though the Scholiast of the Rhetoric says τὸ δὲ τί φροιμιάζῃ τοῦ Κρέοντός ἐστι λέγοντος, it is much more probable that the words are a separate quotation from Eur. I. T. 1162. See Cope's edition of Ar. Rhet. vol. 3. p. 175. Others explain the text (2), You lay the ground carefully and hedge your approaches closely round, as if in preparing a stance to watch for game. According to Pollux, 5, 36, στοχασμός, στοχάς, and στόχος, were terms used in describing the setting of a hunting-net: καλεῖται δ᾽ αὐτῶν (τῶν ἀρκύων) ἡ στάσις, στοιχισμός, στοίχος, στόχος, στοχὰς καὶ στοχασμός· στοχὰς δὲ καλεῖται καὶ χειροποιητά τινα οἰκοδομήματα ἐκ λίθων, ἢ ὕλης ὑπὲρ τὴν γῆν ἀναστήματα, κατὰ χρείαν τῆς τῶν δικτύων ἐξ ἴσου στάσεως, εἴ τι κοῖλον εἴη περὶ τὸ ἀρκύστατον.

243. mvp-comment-149-1 τὰ δεινὰ .. πολύν The reply, as often elsewhere, refers to the first part of the previous speech. Cp. O. Т. 361. The frigid tautology belongs to the character of the Φύλαξ.

244. mvp-comment-150-1 εἰτ᾿ ἀπαλλαχθεὶς ἄπει And be off with you. The Scholiast acutely remarks that these impatient words are intended to hold out the hope of impunity, which is withdrawn again in the angry threats of ll. 305, foll.

246. mvp-comment-151-1 Some one has buried the corpse and has disappeared, after not only sprinkling dry dust upon the flesh, but adding all due rites. This last refers to the libation. Cp. supr. 196-197: infr. 430-431. The surprise was increased by observing the completeness of the act. There is a stress on the participles. Essay on Language p. 75 β, 94, 4.

248. mvp-comment-152-1 τίς ἀνδρῶν Cp. supra 222, and note.

249. mvp-comment-153-1 οὔτε .. ἐκβολή No dint of pick-axe, nor earth turned up with hoe.'

250. mvp-comment-154-1 στύφλος .. καὶ χέρσος Hard and bare. χέρσος γῆ is untilled land, and so here, Undisturbed by implements of husbandry. Cp. infr. 773, 1197.

251. mvp-comment-155-1 ἀρρώξ .. τροχοῖσιν Unbroken, and with no mark of wheels. ἐπημαξευμένη τροχοῖσιν] Lit. Carted over with wheels.' Essay on Language p. 88, note.

252. mvp-comment-156-1 ἀλλ'.. ἦν But whoever did it was one who left no trace.

253. mvp-comment-157-1 ὁ πρῶτος .. ἡμεροσκόπος Our first look-out-man for the day. ἡμεροσκόπος in Xen. Hell. 1. 1. 2, is a watchman who stands at his post at daybreak. Cp. ἡμεροφύλαξ, ib. 7. 2. 6, 7. Antigone's act preceded the setting of this watch.

254. mvp-comment-158-1 θαῦμα δυσχερές Α sight of wonder and dismay.

255. mvp-comment-159-1 τυμβήρης.. κόνις Not covered with a mound, but sprinkled with dust as by one avoiding pollution. Hor. Od. 1. 28,

For the gen., cp. Tr. 768.

255. mvp-comment-159-2 τυμβήρης For this use of the adjective, see Essay on Language § 23. p. 38.

258. mvp-comment-160-1 οὐ σπάσαντος Cp. Aesch. Prom. 451, οὔτε.. δόμους.. οὐ ξυλουργίαν.

259. mvp-comment-161-1 ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν Sc. τοῖς φύλαξιν. Words of abuse were loudly bandied to and fro. Cp. Aesch. Prom. 200, στάσις δ᾽ ἐν ἀλλήλοισιν ὠροθύνετο, sc.

259. mvp-comment-161-2 τοῖς δαίμοσιν.

260. mvp-comment-162-1 φύλαξ ἐλέγχων φύλακα On the nominative out of construction in the clause in apposition, see Essay on Language § 33. p. 57. § 15. p. 21.

260. mvp-comment-162-2 κἂν ἐγίγνετο And it was threatening to come to blows at last. The combination of the imperfect with av here is peculiar, having a force intermediate between ἐγίγνετο and ἐγένετο ἄv; i. e. it was coming to this, that we should have come to blows.

262-263. mvp-comment-163-1 The subtlety of the Φύλαξ deserts him in attempting to express his meaning. The perpetrator was every one and no one of us all every one in vague suspicion, and no one evidently: he escaped being known.' τις gives the indefiniteness required by the sense, = πως.

263. mvp-comment-164-1 ἀλλ᾽ ἔφευγε *μὴ εἰδέναι (1) But he (the perpetrator) always escaped, so that we could not know him. Böckh and Donaldson read as in the text, interpreting (2) Every man' (πᾶς implied in οὐδείς, the affirmative elicited from the negative) defended himself by pleading ignorance of the matter. For φεύγειν, * to urge a defensive plea,' cp. Aesch. Suppl. 390, and for the plea, μὴ εἰδέναι, Plat. Legg. 11. 936 E. But the plea of ignorance, although suitable in l. 266, is too special for this place, wherethe non-appearance of the criminal alone is in question. The meaning given above (1) is the same as that required by Hermann (see below), but is more simply expressed by the epexegesis, and the imperfect tense expresses the frustration of continued search. This interpretation involves a rare use of φεύγω, which is, however, analogous to a meaning of ἐκφεύγω that is not uncommon. Cp. Ο. Τ. 111, ἐκφεύγει δὲ τἀμελούμενον : Plat. Phil. 17, τὰ δὲ μέσα αὐτοὺς ἐκφεύγει. Other emendations are ἔφυγε τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι (Porson), explained by Erfurdt to mean amoliens a se accusationem scire sese negaverat ; ἔφυγε τῷ μὴ εἰδέναι (Herm. 1839), effugit, eo quod nesciebamus; ἔφευγε πᾶς τὸ μή, every man pled Not guilty. (Dind.). 264-265. There are few traces of anything corresponding to the trial by ordeal in ancient times. Brunck quotes Virg. Aen. 11. 787,

It seems to have existed in different places as a popular belief, but nowhere to have received positive legal sanction. For a trace of trial by combat' (in Scythia), see Hdt. 4. 180. Cp. also Ar. Lys. 133.

269. mvp-comment-165-1

(Dind.).

269. mvp-comment-165-2 λέγει, κ.τ.λ. The sense is interrupted by the relative clause, but resumed in the words ἦν δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος in l. 272. For τις εἷς, cp. Thuc. 6. 61, καί τινα μίαν νύκτα, κ.τ.λ. The emphatic use of little words shows the common mind; cp. infr. 404, ὃν σὺ τὸν νέκυν, κ.τ.λ. Wolff and Weckl. join els with what follows: but the antithesis of eἷς πάντας is too pointless here. Cp. Plat. Rep. 6. 496 D, εἰς πᾶσιν ἀγρίοις ἀντέχειν.

274-275. mvp-comment-166-1 κἀμὲ.. λαβεῖν And the lot devotes me, wretched man, to be the recipient of this piece of luck. καθαιρεῖ is used much as in ἡ καθαιροῦσα ψῆφος, not by an extension of the technical sense, but with the same general mean- ing of Fastening upon, Bringing down, Overtaking and subduing.